GEORGIA SENATE — NUNN WILL RUN: Democrat Michelle Nunn is off the fence, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Monday night. A national Democratic strategist confirmed the news to POLITICO after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid hinted at it at an OFA event, saying he had spoken to Nunn on Monday. NBC’s Andrea Mitchell summed up the Nunn candidacy succinctly: “Michelle Nunn has Bush '41 family friends from Points of Light work plus deep Georgia roots and father's political ties,” she tweeted. “Interesting race.” http://bit.ly/13004Tc

Story Continued Below

NEW ON POLITICO: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A MEGADONOR DIES? — The story of Texas Republican donor Bob Perry is a case study, writes Alexander Burns. “Earlier this year, on April 12, Texas construction magnate Bob Perry cut a million-dollar check to the Republican Governors Association, a group he regularly supported in his long tenure as one of the country’s top political donors. The next day, at the age of 80, Perry died. … The free-for-all of campaign fundraising tends to privilege larger-than-life, ideological donors, rather than durable institutions, and little thought is given to what happens when one of those outsized figures is no longer around.” http://politi.co/13zD39h

EXCLUSIVE — NRSC SEIZES ON FILNER: The committee is charging this morning that “Washington Democrats are heading for the hills when asked about their Democratic colleagues’ actual mistreatment of women.” The NRSC references sexual-harassment accusations facing San Diego Mayor Bob Filner and is targeting 10 Democrats, including Senate targets Kay Hagan (N.C.) and Mary Landrieu (La.). http://bit.ly/12depNp

PREVIEW — DEMS DING HOUSE GOP ON YOUNG IMMIGRANTS: A Democratic super PAC this morning is criticizing House Republicans — with an eye toward eight targeted members — for what it calls “hypocrisy” about immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children. House Majority PAC’s attack comes ahead of a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing this morning on the issue that Republicans are billing as part of its “step-by-step process” on immigration reform ( http://1.usa.gov/13UtGN2). Democrats are contrasting the hearing with last month’s House vote “to cut off funds for an Obama administration initiative to block deportations for DREAM Act immigrants” ( http://politi.co/191Kp98).

The attack is in line with $175,000 the super PAC just put into ads on Spanish-language TV targeting Miller, Coffman and Heck over immigration. POLITICO’s Alex Isenstadt writes that those ads “provide an early preview into how Democrats plan to turn immigration into a key issue in the midterm elections”: http://politi.co/17nipJC.

IT’S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN — To the Oct. 1 enrollment opening for state and federal health care exchanges, of course. The NRCC has you covered with a new countdown clock on its Obamacare website, which it calls “a stark reminder of how much time we have left to fight back against the law’s overreach.” http://bit.ly/1654qrn

PROGRAMMING NOTE: Emily is taking a two-month break from Morning Score and heading to Berlin for a reporting fellowship. If you want to get in touch while she’s away (or happen to have any tips about the German elections), you can still reach her at eschultheis@politico.com. In the meantime, email Ellie at etitus@politico.com with your news and feedback. Emily will be back to writing Score in mid-October — in the meantime, auf Wiedersehen!

2013 NEWS —

VIRGINIA GOVERNOR — PREVIEW OF COMING ATTRACTIONS: Buckle your seatbelts, said onlookers after the first Ken Cuccinelli-Terry McAuliffe debate on Saturday. “The lively debate at the Homestead resort here in southwestern Virginia foreshadowed three months of nastiness in store before the November election,” James Hohmann reported for POLITICO ( http://politi.co/18v2fCD). The showdown “was about as negative -- and personal -- as you might have expected in this war-of-attrition race,” said the NBC First Read gang, “and the following debates are only going to get nastier and nastier” ( http://nbcnews.to/12bNJg8).

First look: For their part, Democrats were certainly headed that direction this week, with Virginia Democrats set to release a new Web video Tuesday dealing in part with gay rights ( http://youtu.be/teLFDXpCXDc), and the DGA preparing to hit Cucinelli on women’s health care. “The only thing worse than an extremist politician who attacks a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions is an extremist politician who attempts to disguise that radical agenda when running for office,” communications director Danny Kanner said in a statement set to go out later today. Meanwhile, the RNC put together a new Web video entitled “Tricky Terry,” criticizing what Chairman Reince Priebus called “blatantly false attacks” on Cuccinelli: http://youtu.be/6om0nwKTH8Q.

Latest polling: McAuliffe led Cuccinelli 43-39 in a Quinnipiac poll released Thursday, not far off from the pollster’s May survey. Sixteen percent said they didn’t know who they’d vote for. http://bit.ly/13joeYq

NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR — CHRISTIE RAISES BIG CASH: The Republican brought in more than $2.2 million through the end of June. http://on.wsj.com/18zvzYA

NEW JERSEY SENATE — THREE WEEKS TO PRIMARY DAY: Democrat Frank Pallone went up with his first TV ad this week, joining primary frontrunner Cory Booker on the airwaves ( http://bit.ly/132tKdv). Booker is “doing well” in mail-in voting, reports the Star-Ledger, whose sources say “Booker soon will make a public push for voters to embrace mail-in ballots” ( http://bit.ly/1dLxCWx). And the Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald, who called Booker a "Wall-St-controlled crony capitalism candidate,” is endorsing Rush Holt. POLITICO’s Dylan Byers has more: http://politi.co/13Gz869

2014 NEWS —

WYOMING SENATE — RODEO TIME: Republican Liz Cheney’s decision to challenge incumbent Mike Enzi in the primary instantly became must-watch politics last week, but there’s still a lot we don’t know. Enzi’s first- and second-quarter fundraising was “sluggish,” Roll Call reported ( http://bit.ly/15NtOTP), and that could become a problem for him. Cheney could certainly wield her family name to great fundraising effect and make this a very expensive race. But early polling shows an uphill climb for her: Enzi led Cheney 55-21, the Republican polling firm Harper Polling found. Enzi also enjoyed a 76 percent favorability rating to Cheney’s 45. http://bit.ly/123Dcnc

KENTUCKY SENATE — MCCONNELL PRIMARY CHALLENGER IS EXPECTED: Republican Matt Bevin will announce his plans regarding the race on Wednesday, the Courier-Journal reports: http://cjky.it/13xKFJk. “Bevin has met with some of the nation’s top conservative groups ahead of an expected GOP primary challenge” to McConnell, POLITICO reported this weekend: http://politi.co/16TBfWp. The two have already showed their potential for primary fireworks, with McConnell aide Jesse Benton describing Bevin as an “East Coast con man” and Bevin spokeswoman Sarah Durand firing back at “Mud Slinging Mitch.”

Meanwhile, Google is promoting the NRSC’s digital response to Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes’s rollout as a “case study for their AdWords pay-per-click advertising program,” The Washington Post reports: http://wapo.st/15Chio2. And a pro-Mitch McConnell super PAC is hitting Grimes with a video clip in which she says she supports the national party platform: http://wapo.st/11434wq.

First look: The DSCC plans to hit McConnell today as part of their “guardian of gridlock” campaign with criticism of a 2010 vote related to COLA adjustments for Social Security recipients. “Mitch McConnell’s addiction to gridlock and obstruction in Washington hurts Kentucky seniors who depend on their Social Security benefits,” spokesman Justin Barasky will say in a statement.

HAWAII SENATE—GORE FOR SCHATZ: Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz got another high-profile endorsement this weekend: from former Vice President Al Gore. Schatz’s campaign announced the endorsement Sunday morning, with a statement from Gore praising Schatz’s advocacy for clean energy and climate change issues. The incumbent senator, who took office in December, has gotten the lion’s share of endorsements thus far in the race from unions as well as groups like the DSCC and the League of Conservation Voters. He has just over $2 million in the bank thus far, compared with $500,000 for Democratic challenger, Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (who entered the race in May). The primary has the potential to be one of the most competitive Democratic Senate races in the country—polling in the race has shown it to be a close contest at this point, though the primary isn’t until next August. http://politi.co/13ZlOBb

PENNSYLVANIA GOVERNOR—ANYBODY BUT CORBETT? Republican Gov. Tom Corbett is arguably the most vulnerable incumbent governor up for reelection next year—and his fellow Pennsylvania GOPers are reportedly considering pushing Corbett out and finding a stronger candidate to run next year. National Journal talked to a number of Republican strategists in the state on background and found that many of them worry that Corbett is headed for what one strategist called a “historic landslide [loss].” Corbett will be well-funded, which has thus far helped him ward off primary challengers—and Pennsylvania is a state that frequently reelects its incumbents, so it would be an uphill battle for anyone looking to challenge him. But unless Corbett’s numbers somehow rebound, expect more and more talk about finding someone else for the Republicans to run next year. http://bit.ly/13Zxq7e

ALSO FOR YOUR RADAR — EMILY’S LIST ADDS SUPPORT: “EMILY’s List announced their preliminary support for six new female House candidates from across the country on Monday,” Roll Call reports ( http://bit.ly/14yryRq). They are: Alma Adams in North Carolina, Staci Appel in Iowa, Erin Bilbray-Kohn in Nevada, Pam Byrnes in Michigan, Emily Cain in Maine and Elisabeth Jensen in Kentucky.

First look: The DCCC is running online campaign in about two dozen districts starting today, targeting Republicans over House Speaker John Boehner's comment in an interview that aired Sunday that the House should be judged by how many laws it repeals, not how many laws it passes. Here's an example video: http://youtu.be/ueUArcIsRyg.

CANDIDATE TICKER — WHO’S IN AND WHO’S OUT? Here are some highlights of who announced they’re running in some of the key 2014 races around the country (and who announced they’re not):

TED CRUZ, RAND PAUL COURT IOWA PASTORS: National Review’s Robert Costa reports on the trip: “After Cruz stepped off the dais, it was as if he had suddenly been transformed from a politician they’d seen only on Fox News to a confidant of Iowa’s preaching elite. Pastors laid their hands on his shoulders as a prayerful gesture. Cruz aides Johnson and Drogin, standing aside, looked startled by the rapturous reception; they’ve seen their boss rock conservative audiences before, but they expected Iowans to be cagey. … Paul’s most rousing moment came when he brought up foreign policy. The pastors were on their feet when he said the U.S. should not give ‘one penny more’ to any country that burns the American flag in the streets. ‘Congress responds by sending more of your money to these haters of Christianity?’ he asked, incredulously. ‘It is time to put a stop to this madness!’” http://bit.ly/13z1fso

PAUL RYAN, AMY KLOBUCHAR PLAN IOWA TRIPS: The Wisconsin Republican and Minnesota Democrat, respectively, are lining up visits. The Des Moines Register: “Even with the caucuses almost 30 months off and the 2016 election still more than three years away, several national political figures have made or will make ostentatious visits to Iowa this summer.” http://dmreg.co/12YfTGe

PETER KING TO NEW HAMPSHIRE: The Republican lawmaker plans trips in August and September, POLITICO’s Katie Glueck reports. He has started floating the idea of a presidential run. http://politi.co/16159Ja

LIGHTER CLICKS —

THREE REPORTERS for NPR invite you to ride along “as they explore the Iowa they didn't see on the presidential trail” — this time by bike. Their blog features lots of photos of pie and one of a T-shirt that alleges: “Des Moines: Even better in spandex!” http://returntoiowa.tumblr.com

Authors:

About The Author

Emily Schultheis is a national political reporter and author of POLITICO Pro’s daily Morning Score tipsheet. She joined POLITICO as a 2010 summer intern, then filed stories on the 2010 Pennsylvania Senate and gubernatorial races and the 2012 election throughout her senior year at the University of Pennsylvania. Since arriving full-time at POLITICO in summer 2011, Schultheis spent the 2012 cycle writing for the “Burns & Haberman” blog and traveling the country with different presidential candidates. She took over Morning Score in January 2013.

In summer 2013, Schultheis was one of ten American journalists selected for the Arthur F. Burns Fellowship, an international reporting program for young journalists. She spent two months covering the German election in Berlin for POLITICO and SPIEGEL International.

Schultheis began covering politics for The Daily Pennsylvanian, Penn’s student-run newspaper, in 2008, trailing Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton throughout Philadelphia during the lead-up to the Pennsylvania primary. Her work has also appeared in the Philadelphia Daily News, Philadelphia City Paper and UWIRE’s Youth Vote ‘08 blog. She graduated summa cum laude from Penn with a degree in English literature in May 2011.

Schultheis, originally from the San Francisco Bay area, now lives in Arlington.

About The Author

Elizabeth Titus is a reporter at POLITICO Pro.

She previously reported for The Texas Tribune and contributed to the coverage of Texas that it provides to The New York Times. She also previously reported for The Center for Investigative Reporting's California Watch and the Sacramento Valley Mirror in Willows, Calif.

Titus is a graduate of Stanford, where she was editor-in-chief of The Stanford Daily. She got her start in journalism at The Ferndale Enterprise, a weekly newspaper her family publishes in northern California.